Remembering Harry Kalas

Most of us have never known the Phillies without Harry Kalas. Now, as fun as baseball has always been, and will continue to be, watching these games will never quite be the same.

Everyone’s got a favorite Kalas call. Whether it was “Michael Jack Schmidt’s” 500th home run, the Phillies winning the 1993 Pennant, or the when the Phillies became “2008 World Champions of Baseball,” Jayson Stark said it best when he wrote that it didn’t feel like it really happened until you heard Harry the K describing it. For many it wasn’t even one specific call; it was just knowing that he’d be there to watch the games with you every summer, like a wily grandfather with a great sense of humor and childlike love of the game. Enjoying the sound of him serenading you via transistor radio while you sipped beer on the beach, enjoying that vague no-man’s-land between napping and consciousness that can only happen on a hot summer day at the Jersey Shore.

Harry’s passing seems personal to so many because he was so subtly interwoven into the fabric of our lives that we didn’t even notice. He never came to our family reunions or holiday dinners. He never gave us a phone call to talk us through tough times. But Harry was there for some of our best memories, the ones too delicate and innocent to notice. The frivolous moments of summer, friends, and laughter that don’t seem important until we look back on them. We could always depend on Harry in times of cheer. We’ll still have those moments, but something will forever be slightly off about them when we realize our friend isn’t there with us.

The poetry of Harry passing in the broadcast booth shouldn’t be lost on anyone. He lived baseball even to his last breath. Hell, he even gave us one last, great, “Outta Heeeeere!” when Matt Stairs went yard to give the Phils the win in Colorado. Harry gave us all he possibly could during the span of four decades and went out doing what he loved most. A beautiful symmetry we should all be so lucky to achieve. The Phillies played on Monday, because that’s what Harry would have wanted. He may even have been appalled if anyone tried to place him before the game he loved, a game that will continue on in all of our lives and make us smile all over again. It just won’t be the same smiling without Harry there, but he’d definitely want us to try.

Image Credit: Flickr user phillymads63.